Rail transport

The earliest proposal for a local railway, so far discovered, was made in 1824, six years before the opening of the famous Liverpool to Manchester Railway. It was described as the “Birmingham to Mersey (Opposite to Liverpool) Railway” and was put forward by the Grand Junction Railway Company. Presumably the omission of the name Birkenhead underlines how small that town then was. The company would have preferred to go direct to Liverpool but the prospect of crossing the lower reaches of the Mersey was too daunting. Subject to much opposition from canal and landowners the plan was defeated in Parliament and dropped. The Company eventually gained access to Liverpool through Warrington, and much later via Runcorn.
An amended route was put forward in 1826; this would have crossed Abbots Mead and the roundabout at the end of Countess Way before approaching the City parallel to Parkgate Road.
From the point of view of Upton the most notable aspect of this route would have been a junction just east of the site of Mill View School, from where a branch line would have gone to the City Centre.

In 1830 Stevenson surveyed a route for a railway between Chester and Birkenhead.It was this route which was to eventually be built, but not for ten years. The delay arose from a rival proposal from Birkenhead, (possibly using the 1826 route although no evidence has yet been found prove this) which eventually caused a loss of interest in both schemes. The alternative route was surveyed by Francis Giles and was to the west of Stevenson’s The Stevenson plan was eventually revived and built.

At the same time as the Chester Birkenhead Railway was being revived an 1837 proposal called the Chester Junction Railway was mooted. This would have come through Backford and end with a station on what is now the Kaleyards Car Park between Frodsham Street and the City walls. It appears that this plan was dropped in favour of co-operating with the Chester Birkenhead Company.

What appears to have been the final railway proposal was made, in 1844, by the Birkenhead, Lancashire & Chester Junction Railway and this called for a route entering Upton near Butter Hill and joining the route proposed by the Chester Junction Railway somewhere to the north of Daleside. From where it appears to have intended joining the existing line just to the north of the bridge in Brook Lane.
The routes in more detail. (From North to South)
1824 Birmingham – 1836 Chester Junction 1844 Birkenhead, Lancashire
Mersey Railway Railway & Chester Railway
Park & Ride Car park St Christopher’s Close Zoo/Park & Ride roundabout Demage Lane Across the Golf course Northwest of Daleside
East of Upton Lawns Mill Lane/Delvine Dr Junction Then 1836 route to join
Gatesheath Drive Bache Drive existing line close to
Weston Grove/ The Wiend The Wiend
Wealstone Lane Junction On to station at Kaleyards
Mill View School
City Branch -west of the Firs School
Birmingham Branch - through
Kingsway School

The 1826 Birmingham Mersey proposal has not been listed at it only marginally affected Upton.

Railway workersMany people are listed in the 1851-1901 census records as working on the Railways.